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The toddler's heart had torn due to the force of a fatal blow - a type of injury usually only found in car crash victims - and she had also suffered other injuries, including a bleed on the brain, in the months before her death in May 2014.

Smith, 24, of Overseal, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, was ordered to serve at least 24 years behind bars at Birmingham Crown Court in April last year.

But her 'tariff' has now been reduced to 19 years by judges sitting at the Court of Appeal, in London.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, said the original term was too long, in light of Smith's youth and "immaturity".

Sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Sir Wyn Williams, he said: "The minimum term imposed by the judge did not properly reflect the circumstances of the murder, the previous conduct, the other offences of which she was convicted or the mitigating factors.

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"In our judgment, the minimum term which properly reflected all the factors should have been one of 19 years."

The judges refused Smith's bid to overturn her murder conviction.

Her barrister, John Butterfield QC, argued at hearings in November last year and earlier this month that the conviction was "unsafe".

He said an interruption by the trial judge as he made his closing speech caused "prejudice" in the minds of jurors, as did the judge's summing up of the case.

Mr Butterfield also put forward "fresh medical evidence", which came to light during a serious case review of Ayeeshia's death, including discrepancies in Ayeeshia's weight and the fact she suffered a blister to her finger when she wasn't with her mother.

But, dismissing the appeal, Lord Thomas said that none of the matters raised cast any doubt on the safety of the conviction.

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He added: "Although it would have been better if the personal criticism of Mr Butterfield had not been made and the summing up had not contained some of the comments on the evidence and the witnesses which it did, we are satisfied that, looked at overall, the summing up was both thorough and fair.

"Of fundamental significance was the inability of Smith to provide any significant explanation for the child's injuries from October 2013 onwards and her repeated changes of account as to the events leading up to her collapse.

"There was ample evidence on which the jury could have reached the verdicts they did.

"We conclude that although this is a case in which we should grant leave to appeal on both grounds the convictions were, in our view, safe."